Political Secularism, Religion, and the State

“Political Secularism, Religion, and the State: A Time Series Analysis of Worldwide Data” by Jonathan Fox. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 285pp.

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What role does religion play in government? What is the relationship between political secularism and religion? And, is the role of religion declining in the public and political sphere and the world becoming more secular? Jonathan Fox addresses these questions in his new book, Political Secularism, Religion, and the State. Drawing on from large-scale quantitative survey data from the round 2 of the Religion and State (RAS2) Project between 1990 and 2008 period, Fox argues that secular and religious institutions and actors are competing with each other for influence and it is in this competition that the religious forces are making significant inroads into the public and political life.

The book begins with Fox’s critical engagement with the much celebrated secularization theory of the 1960s, which predicted the decline and eventual death of religion in modern societies. According to Fox, while much of the debate has centred on either “for or against” the secularization theory, it has blinded us from a “third option” i.e. “whether it is possible to use elements of secularization theory to understand religion’s role in politics and society without accepting all aspects of the theory, especially the prediction of religion’s decline (p.16).” It is in this context, Fox introduces the concept of “political secularism” – defined “as an ideology or set of beliefs advocating that religion ought to be separate from all or some aspects of politics of public life (or both) (p.2)” – and discusses the competition between political secularism and religious actors – referred to as the competition perspective – to influence state-religion policy. Fox argues that understanding a state’s religion policy is vital as it demonstrates how a state deals with its religion. He identifies 110 religion policies through which states support, regulate and restrict religious practices and institutions. Based on a time series analysis of worldwide data, Fox concludes that state support for religion around the world is on the rise. Though this by itself does not disprove secularization theory, it shows that in the competition between secularism and religion, it is the latter one that is gaining significant influence in the public and political sphere.

The book provides innovative empirical and theoretical insights on the relationship between secularism, religion and the state. Readers will benefit greatly from the author’s skills on how to analyse large-scale datasets. The book has successfully combined empirical data with theoretical interpretations and will be useful to students and scholars of sociology of religion and comparative politics.

The Legacy of Gandhi

About Me

Predicted by a palmist (fortune teller), who happened to be a friend, that there is no optimistic option for me to pursue my higher studies outside the geographical boundary of my home state called Orissa, situated in the eastern coast of India, which is one of the holiest and sacred place of piligrimage according to the Hindu Mythology. Derelicted by the fore-casting but with a sense of optimism, I tried my luck. Sitting below the hanging sword, I make it a point to give my best, but not at the cost of something else.
Luck decided to smile after a long assessment, boundaries obliterated and the belief in blind-beliefs were demolished for ever. With hope and possibilities, I crossed all the boundaries and started my academic journey with determination. This all about my uncertain but real embarkment of life as academics.
Having not known what sociology is, I opted for it (by the suggestion from friends) as a subject during my two years training as a student in the Intermediate of Arts. Eventually, I liked the subject and topped the class in the Annual exam which spawned an ever enduring interest as to choose Sociology as an Honours subject during my three years Bachelor of Arts Programme under Utkal University in my home state of Orissa. Dreadful performance in the final coupled with my friend’s prediction clogged the doors of hope. Luck winked through a small hole when I was cited in the tail end of the waiting list of a two years Masters Programme in Sociology at the University of Hyderabad, popularly known for its boom in cyber education and marginalization of social science. Going through the process of selection and elimination, I finally got a chance to pursue my Masters in Hyderabad which later opened up the doorsteps of forward march to the highest centre of learning in India called the Jawaharlal Nehru University for a two years of M.Phil in Sociology and finally to Singapore as a Ph.D candidate. And, now here at NUS, I am continuing with my interest on “The Dynamics of Mobilization and the Politics of Democratization: Exploring the Political role of Civil Society in Rajasthan (INDIA)” since January 2005.